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Memorial
University of Newfoundland
Publications Mail
Registration No. 551 988
Volume 29 Number 20
A MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NF^VFOUNDLAND PUBLICATION
June 19,1997
CUPE to take strike vote
By Pam Frampton
University employees who are members of the Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) Local 1615 are
expected to take a strike vote within days.
The collective agreement between
Memorial University and the union — which
represents 750 administrative, instructional,
technical and technical support staff, as well as
lab instructors and library staff — expired at
the end of March 4997; negotiations between
the two parties stalled two weeks ago despite
the efforts of a conciliator. The union can hold
a strike vote as of Friday (June 20), though the
vote probably won't be held until next week
because the union has to secure a space large
enough to hold the meeting — a difficult task
in a city filled with tourists in town for the
Cabot 500 celebrations.
University spokesperson Peter Morris,
who is manager of the News Service in the
Division of University Relations, said
Memorial has made five separate proposals
to CUPE Local 1615.
"In its last proposal the university offered to
incorporate CUPE members into Memorial's
Job Evaluation system which, in effect, will
give all 750 members of the union — with
three exceptions — an immediate increase in
salary: an increase of two per cent upon signing, two per cent more in January, and two per
cent on the first anniversary of the signing of
the contract," he said "And after the first year
the university is offering an additional increase
of two per cent per year for the life of the contract We've also offered them the same wage
scales as management and non-bargaining unit
employees. We think that there is the basis for
a deal; we think it's a fair and equitable proposal, with a wage increase that's generous
given the fiscal climate and the university's situation."
Corinne Budgell, the national representative for CUPE, said members of the union
mistrust the university's offer.
"The [university is] telling us that we would
have one wage scale for everyone, but we don't
believe it," she said. "We don't have access to
their data, just to our members' pay scales.
We're not looking for a wage increase — we
never were. We just want equity; we want a
two per cent increase, or whatever the percentage, to mean the same thing to everyone."
Ms. Budgell said there's a very good
chance that union members will vote in
favor of a strike.
"I've always said that a strike vote is a
formality for us," she said. "In March we did
a telephone survey because we asked members for a strike mandate before we started
bargaining. Members are e-mailing us [in
support of a strike] every day."
Mr. Morris said the university is well prepared for a strike, should such action occur.
"A Strike Preparedness Committee has
been struck, which includes representatives of
Student Affairs and Services, the Office of the
Registrar, Human Resources, University
Relations, Facilities Management, and Sir
Wilfred Grenfell College," he said. "This
group is putting together contingency plans.
We have also set up a Web page for university
administrators off Memorial's home page
which contains information on our proposal,
and questions and answers."
Mr. Morris said the concerns and needs
of students must prevail, and for this reason
Memorial University would not lock out
employees. He said such action would have
a detrimental impact on students.
For more detailed information on where
both parties stand, check out Memorial's
labor news site at http://www.mun.ca/uni-
vrel/labor and CUPE's home page at
http://www.mun.ca/cupe 1615
Photo by Chris Hammond
Sneakin' around
(L-R) Bobbi Dwyer, Linda Wheaton and Helen Kelly, all of the Division of
University Relations, laced up their running shoes and took a brisk walk around
the Canada Games Park track on June 6 as part of Sneaker Day on Memorial's St.
John's campus. Approximately 50 people — including several children from the
Council of the Students' Union-MUN Childcare Centre — spent from 1-2 p.m.
accepting the Campus Awareness Program's challenge to get active. Several
participants won prizes, including David Snow, Academic Advising; Patsy Burry,
Human Resources; Joanne Smith, a student; and Nadine Hunt and Mark Fahey of
Student Development, who won day passes to the Aquarena. Lorretta Penney of
the Council of the Students' Union won a coupon for Jungle Jim's restaurant,
while Madeline Taylor of Human Resources won bagels and cream cheese from
the Great Canadian Bagel Company.
Ambitious series explores Newfoundland's history
by Jean Graham
A groundbreaking documentary series
on Newfoundland history airing this
week on CBC-Television owes a lot
to Memorial University expertise, say those
associated with producing East of Canada.
The five-hour series, airing weeknights this
week at 7:30 p.m., is "the largest and most
ambitious documentary production ever
undertaken by a CBC regional station for network distribution," said Ron Crocker, regional
director, CBC-Newfoundland and Labrador.
All concerned caution that East of Canada
is not an exhaustive look at Newfoundland history. It does, however, explore five of the
major themes which emerged over the last 500
years. Monday night's episode (June 16),
Voyage to the Happy Island, told of Cabot's
arrival in Newfoundland and the "slow death"
of the Beothuks. Outport, Tuesday's episode
(June 17), was "a tribute to the outport—why
it developed, how it endured, and why it
declined." On Wednesday (June 18), well-
known radio documentary producer
Chris Brookes took
his first foray into
television production with Nation or
Notion? The show
offered a humorous
look at the concept
of Newfoundland's
separate nation
existence. Canadian Connections,
which airs tonight
(Thursday, June 19) traces approximately 80
years of Newfoundland's relationship with
Canada. Finally, Joey's Spade on June 20 will
feature the actual silver spade used for ground-
tuming by former premier Joseph R. Small-
wood as a metaphor for the myriad projects
designed to industrialize Newfoundland, and
the impact of those projects on the lives of
Newfoundlanders.
Ireland's Eye, Trinity Bay
The job of finding
that spade, and
dozens of images
and other documentary evidence,
fell partly to Bert
Riggs, an archivist
at the Centre for
Newfoundland
Studies (CNS) and
Gazette columnist.
Mr. Riggs said
East of Canada
was definitely the
biggest project he's ever worked on, although
CNS staff have certainly been involved in
other entertainment projects, including finding
an actual 1920s picture of The Danger Tree for
the movie of the same name.
"Part of the way that [archivists] work,"
said Mr. Riggs, "is familiarity with the materi-
aL.you retain a knowledge of what you have.
When [CBC] came with specific requests, we
could say 'yes we have it' or 'no we don't —
have yoii thought about using this?' We could
also refer them in many cases to one of the 73
other archives in the province."
For historical detail, CBC staff also
relied heavily on Memorial's faculty.
Anthropologists like Drs. Priscilla Renouf,
Jim Tuck and Peter Pope, Dr. Val Summers
of Political Science, Institute of Social and
Economic Research Fellow John Fitzgerald,
and experts in local history including Dr.
Jim Hiller and Prof. Shane O'Dea, were all
interviewed for the massive documentary
project.
In addition, a former Memorial professor is
the host and historical consultant for the series.
Dr. Patrick O'Flaherty, who retired from the
English department last year, was one of the
original participants.
"Last year, Ron Crocker asked me for
ideas...I drew up the broad lines and these
See HISTORY, page 3
AIDS research on
the streets of
India Q j
Some may find
their Routes *| 1

Memorial
University of Newfoundland
Publications Mail
Registration No. 551 988
Volume 29 Number 20
A MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NF^VFOUNDLAND PUBLICATION
June 19,1997
CUPE to take strike vote
By Pam Frampton
University employees who are members of the Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) Local 1615 are
expected to take a strike vote within days.
The collective agreement between
Memorial University and the union — which
represents 750 administrative, instructional,
technical and technical support staff, as well as
lab instructors and library staff — expired at
the end of March 4997; negotiations between
the two parties stalled two weeks ago despite
the efforts of a conciliator. The union can hold
a strike vote as of Friday (June 20), though the
vote probably won't be held until next week
because the union has to secure a space large
enough to hold the meeting — a difficult task
in a city filled with tourists in town for the
Cabot 500 celebrations.
University spokesperson Peter Morris,
who is manager of the News Service in the
Division of University Relations, said
Memorial has made five separate proposals
to CUPE Local 1615.
"In its last proposal the university offered to
incorporate CUPE members into Memorial's
Job Evaluation system which, in effect, will
give all 750 members of the union — with
three exceptions — an immediate increase in
salary: an increase of two per cent upon signing, two per cent more in January, and two per
cent on the first anniversary of the signing of
the contract," he said "And after the first year
the university is offering an additional increase
of two per cent per year for the life of the contract We've also offered them the same wage
scales as management and non-bargaining unit
employees. We think that there is the basis for
a deal; we think it's a fair and equitable proposal, with a wage increase that's generous
given the fiscal climate and the university's situation."
Corinne Budgell, the national representative for CUPE, said members of the union
mistrust the university's offer.
"The [university is] telling us that we would
have one wage scale for everyone, but we don't
believe it," she said. "We don't have access to
their data, just to our members' pay scales.
We're not looking for a wage increase — we
never were. We just want equity; we want a
two per cent increase, or whatever the percentage, to mean the same thing to everyone."
Ms. Budgell said there's a very good
chance that union members will vote in
favor of a strike.
"I've always said that a strike vote is a
formality for us," she said. "In March we did
a telephone survey because we asked members for a strike mandate before we started
bargaining. Members are e-mailing us [in
support of a strike] every day."
Mr. Morris said the university is well prepared for a strike, should such action occur.
"A Strike Preparedness Committee has
been struck, which includes representatives of
Student Affairs and Services, the Office of the
Registrar, Human Resources, University
Relations, Facilities Management, and Sir
Wilfred Grenfell College," he said. "This
group is putting together contingency plans.
We have also set up a Web page for university
administrators off Memorial's home page
which contains information on our proposal,
and questions and answers."
Mr. Morris said the concerns and needs
of students must prevail, and for this reason
Memorial University would not lock out
employees. He said such action would have
a detrimental impact on students.
For more detailed information on where
both parties stand, check out Memorial's
labor news site at http://www.mun.ca/uni-
vrel/labor and CUPE's home page at
http://www.mun.ca/cupe 1615
Photo by Chris Hammond
Sneakin' around
(L-R) Bobbi Dwyer, Linda Wheaton and Helen Kelly, all of the Division of
University Relations, laced up their running shoes and took a brisk walk around
the Canada Games Park track on June 6 as part of Sneaker Day on Memorial's St.
John's campus. Approximately 50 people — including several children from the
Council of the Students' Union-MUN Childcare Centre — spent from 1-2 p.m.
accepting the Campus Awareness Program's challenge to get active. Several
participants won prizes, including David Snow, Academic Advising; Patsy Burry,
Human Resources; Joanne Smith, a student; and Nadine Hunt and Mark Fahey of
Student Development, who won day passes to the Aquarena. Lorretta Penney of
the Council of the Students' Union won a coupon for Jungle Jim's restaurant,
while Madeline Taylor of Human Resources won bagels and cream cheese from
the Great Canadian Bagel Company.
Ambitious series explores Newfoundland's history
by Jean Graham
A groundbreaking documentary series
on Newfoundland history airing this
week on CBC-Television owes a lot
to Memorial University expertise, say those
associated with producing East of Canada.
The five-hour series, airing weeknights this
week at 7:30 p.m., is "the largest and most
ambitious documentary production ever
undertaken by a CBC regional station for network distribution," said Ron Crocker, regional
director, CBC-Newfoundland and Labrador.
All concerned caution that East of Canada
is not an exhaustive look at Newfoundland history. It does, however, explore five of the
major themes which emerged over the last 500
years. Monday night's episode (June 16),
Voyage to the Happy Island, told of Cabot's
arrival in Newfoundland and the "slow death"
of the Beothuks. Outport, Tuesday's episode
(June 17), was "a tribute to the outport—why
it developed, how it endured, and why it
declined." On Wednesday (June 18), well-
known radio documentary producer
Chris Brookes took
his first foray into
television production with Nation or
Notion? The show
offered a humorous
look at the concept
of Newfoundland's
separate nation
existence. Canadian Connections,
which airs tonight
(Thursday, June 19) traces approximately 80
years of Newfoundland's relationship with
Canada. Finally, Joey's Spade on June 20 will
feature the actual silver spade used for ground-
tuming by former premier Joseph R. Small-
wood as a metaphor for the myriad projects
designed to industrialize Newfoundland, and
the impact of those projects on the lives of
Newfoundlanders.
Ireland's Eye, Trinity Bay
The job of finding
that spade, and
dozens of images
and other documentary evidence,
fell partly to Bert
Riggs, an archivist
at the Centre for
Newfoundland
Studies (CNS) and
Gazette columnist.
Mr. Riggs said
East of Canada
was definitely the
biggest project he's ever worked on, although
CNS staff have certainly been involved in
other entertainment projects, including finding
an actual 1920s picture of The Danger Tree for
the movie of the same name.
"Part of the way that [archivists] work,"
said Mr. Riggs, "is familiarity with the materi-
aL.you retain a knowledge of what you have.
When [CBC] came with specific requests, we
could say 'yes we have it' or 'no we don't —
have yoii thought about using this?' We could
also refer them in many cases to one of the 73
other archives in the province."
For historical detail, CBC staff also
relied heavily on Memorial's faculty.
Anthropologists like Drs. Priscilla Renouf,
Jim Tuck and Peter Pope, Dr. Val Summers
of Political Science, Institute of Social and
Economic Research Fellow John Fitzgerald,
and experts in local history including Dr.
Jim Hiller and Prof. Shane O'Dea, were all
interviewed for the massive documentary
project.
In addition, a former Memorial professor is
the host and historical consultant for the series.
Dr. Patrick O'Flaherty, who retired from the
English department last year, was one of the
original participants.
"Last year, Ron Crocker asked me for
ideas...I drew up the broad lines and these
See HISTORY, page 3
AIDS research on
the streets of
India Q j
Some may find
their Routes *| 1